Advice needed: PZI effective for how long

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turbocat

turbocat

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Hi,

It's been a while since I've been here and posted. I was a basketcase for a while after Chester's diagnosis and to be honest I was feeling stressed out and needed to monitor my info load so I took a break from this site.

I tried wet food for a while and he wasn't eating it very well. His numbers were lower on it, but I didn't know if it was because of the food or because he was barely eating. I bought the "lowest carb" dry food out there called EVO and have been feeding him that. (No need to remind me wet food is better, I know this. Now that I am getting things routinized I may try to get back to that for him.) Anyway, could someone please look at Chester's spreadsheet and tell me what you think is going on. His numbers have been very high, even at +6 and +7. Sometimes higher than at preshot. It seems like suddenly the insulin is no longer working. I have the same vial I got when he was diagnosed 1/26/2012. I still have half a vial left and I am wondering if it has lost it's effectiveness. I accidentally left it on the counter for a couple hours on two occasions, but that was weeks ago and it was still effective afterward at that time.

Thoughts, ideas? Please and thank you. nailbite_smile
 
Welcome back! All the information can get overwhelming. At the same time, if you get in the habit of posting often and sharing your numbers, you can get advice, and you can see how others are dealing with the same issues. Ideally, since it is a small forum and the people are incredibly friendly, it will feel more like a support group for you and Chester.

IMHO, I think he had better numbers at lower doses. (Not sure which were with wet and which with EVO, but generally the lower doses looked better to me. ) The high nadir numbers you are seeing can be an inverse curve - usually a sign of too much insulin. You have been bouncing around quite a bit with the doses, and increasing by quite a bit at a time.

I would go back to 1.5, hold it for several cycles (unless he would go too low) and get midcycle numbers whenever you can. (Test for ketones just because you are reducing the insulin and it's a safe practice. http://petdiabetes.wikia.com/wiki/Ketoacidosis) See if you can get some night time numbers, before bed or once in a while, an alarm at +6. Then, after a few cycles, see if it looks like you have room to move up and go up by .25 to see how he looks. If you want, and you can, post here with your numbers and see what people think.

Check out Nadja and Sam's spreadsheet to see what I am trying to explain. She kept increasing the dose and her numbers got worse. Once she got some overnight numbers and saw he was going lower at night and bouncing higher in the am, she reduced the dose. He is doing much better with less insulin.
 
I agree w/ Sue. The numbers were much better on a lower dose.

I started at 1.0 unit a couple of weeks before you. Grayson ran long cycles so we kept cutting the dose back. Then he started going flat, so we increased. With a ketone scare, we kept increasing. My vet wanted me to jump from 2.5 to 3.5, but I was only comfortable with a .2 increase at a time. This was less stressful on his system, and except for an occasional contraband snack, he's done quite well. I don't know that I've experienced the bouncing so many others have.

Kim recently advised someone on the insulin that it shouldn't hurt it to be left out for a while. As long as its not all day in summer heat, it's probably just fine. I expect we've all done that at least once! I know I've done it about 3 times - a couple hours each. I don't see any drastic changes with its performance.

It sounds like you're trying to get your world back on a good axis. I understand that feeling completely. As time permits, you may want to adjust the food some. Grayson was really reluctant to go wet... and he'd do backflips if he knew he could get some Kitt-N-Kaboodle, but we've been sticking with Fancy Feast Classic Chicken & Turkey w/ a seafood thrown in once in a while for a treat. He still needs more weight, but he's at least holding for now.

Good luck. Let us know how we can help you.

Lu-Ann
 
Thanks for the replies. He started the EVO on Feb 8; I made a note in the comment column. Last night his pmps was 375. I had the opportunity around midnight to check his numbers and it was 412 at +6. But amps was back down to 312. I don't know if something stressed him before that. (My husband had vehicle trouble while out working and I had to run and pick him up and I checked him when I got back and it was high. He's kind of sensitive and then this morning he had soft stool (runny butt we call it) and that is usually stressed induced. Like after a vet visit etc. So dunno.)

I'm hesitant to reduce the dose on a Saturday night. (Why do all these stressful things happen on a weekend?) I still don't have Ketostix. I know, shame on me. I understand the importance of testing but I was trying not to worry about one more thing. My vet was not happy with me doing home BG testing. Said it "would drive me crazy". I've kept testing but I was literally about to lose my mind with all the dosing changes. I wanted to give him a set dose. A friend of mine who had a diabetic cat was kind of on the vet's side, saying he knew more than we did. She never did home testing and her cat got off insulin after 6 months on the EVO. So that's when I went back to the 3 units, because I also felt like his numbers were going up, like lower doses weren't controlling. Like maybe I really didn't know what I was doing. So anyway, I don't have ketostix, but I will try to find some tomorrow.

I don't know. I was feeling confident and happy because Chester was doing pretty well, I thought, but now this high number thing has me all discombobulated. :?
 
Maybe it would help to look at some of the other threads and read through their trials and successes. We're all in this together and help and support each other. We'd be glad to help you and Chester.
 
Thank you, Sue. I promise I am not really a crazy person, despite all evidence to the contrary. :roll: Chester dropped from 405 pmps to 250 at +3. So the insulin works. I gave him the shot in his side instead of his back so maybe somehow it absorbed better? Tomorrow I think I will reduce his dose as you all suggested. I think maybe I'm ready to figure this out. Thank you.
 
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